TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli underlined the country's pioneering role in fighting drug trafficking, and called on other states to join Tehran on this path.
"Iran is active in area of drug campaign with a humanitarian outlook and the entire world admits that Iran has helped the international community (in this regard)," Rahmani Fazli said in a press conference in Tehran on Saturday.

He grumbled that the international community and institutions have not assisted Iran so much in fighting drugs.

"The powerful states which claim to be ahead of other countries in area of intelligence and have information superiority over different issues, using satellites and other tools, should provide us with this information for fighting drugs; they should also provide us with the necessary equipment," Rahmani Fazli said.

Tehran has always complained about the EU and other international bodies' lack of serious cooperation with Iran in the campaign against drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)� World Drug Report 2013, Iran accounted for the highest rate of opium seizures (80 percent) as well as heroin seizures (30 percent) in the world this year.

According to official estimates, Iran's battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually. Strategies pursued by Tehran include digging canals, building barriers and installing barbed wire to seal the country's borders, specially in the East.

Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime.

Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.

By Fars News Agency

 

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